Stanford Rape Case: ‘Separate alcohol from a serious criminal act’

We need to remove the myth that a rape victim who has consumed alcohol is in any way responsible for the crime committed against them, says Cliona Saidlear, head of the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland (RCNI).

“You can disapprove of men, women, young people, or middle-aged people getting drunk and out of control but that’s different to saying ‘she was to blame’,” says Ms Saidlear.

“Separating out those two pieces — being judgemental about someone’s drinking is different to the person’s [the perpetrator] action who is making the decision.

“They [the victim] did not rape themselves. We don’t focus on the perpetrator, often it’s survivors talking and the perpetrator is not in the picture. The victim is out front and we interrogate the victim.”

Ms Saidlear gives the opinion that rapists will often “test the water” many times, to see what society finds acceptable before they go on to commit an act of sexual assault.

“We all have a role play, it isn’t about that rapist and the rape victim. They made 101 choices before they raped. Rapists test the water and push the boundaries before they get to that decision to commit the rape,” she told the Irish Examiner.

“Rapists are looking out for reassurance that they’ll get away with it and they do it in small everyday ways and we’re present for those.”

Ms Saidlear says that every member of society can help to deconstruct ‘rape culture’ by “not minimising” sexist jokes against either gender and by not playing into the sexual objectification of men or women.

“We can help by not minimising [sexist comments and acts], by not being part of the culture that says ‘push the line, misogyny is fine, treating women as sexual objects is fine’,” says Ms Saidlear.

“Our culture is a testing ground for future rapists and what can we do, is to make our culture resilient. We are all from this culture.”

Cliona Saidlear of the Rape Crisis Network Ireland says alcohol should not be a factor in assessing a rape accusation.

As a result of this culture — victims of sexual assault, as opposed to feeling aggrieved for the crime committed against them and their bodies, are made to assume responsibility and internalise blame.

“The first thing that happens is victims will interrogate themselves, they’ll blame themselves,” Ms Saidlear says. “It’s a double hit. The first thing to say is our culture instinctively blames victims.”

She advises victims who find themselves in this mindset to first acknowledge it and then to be kind to themselves.

“In the first instance, they need to be kind to themselves,” she says. “It sounds simple, but to say: ‘It’s not your fault, you didn’t choose this, the person [perpetrator] making the choices chose this.’ They need to be reminded of this over and over.”

Ms Saidlear believes that the outpouring of support for the Stanford victim may lead to real change in society.

“I’m heartened that this gets called out, that rapists don’t get away with it anymore, nor the judges,” she says.

“Society will change when there are enough people calling something out, the vast majority of people don’t want to live in that culture.”